HEALTH AND WELLNESS
69-Year-Old Grandmother
Is Proof Age Is Nothing
But A Number
Article by Ellen Ector
Ector says, “Your body is a machine.”
How Did She Get Involved in Fitness?
The fitness guru was especially interested in targeting black women after her mother died of uterine cancer at age 63. So for her to be 69 and healthy is a major milestone that she wants all women
Ellen Ector, a 69-year-old mom of five and a grandmother of four, is a health inspiration to thousands of people everywhere. After 20 years as a social worker, she decided to quit her job and pursue fitness training in 2009. “I said, ‘Either you’re gonna do this fitness thing or you’ll be working for someone else for the rest of your life,’”
“I had five children and I was overweight. I took a pic of myself and I looked horrible. I had all gut and butt,” says Ellen. “But after five children what do you expect?” So she decided to do something about it. She changed her eating habits, started to exercise and the weight started to come off. She started feeling more energetic too.
“The reason why we took this bold move was because the fitness industry had completely forgotten about African-American women,” explain Ector. “You don’t see our faces on the fitness DVD’s, you don’t see our faces on the magazine covers, so we wanted to come out with something for us, for real women.” All of the exercises can be done with little to no equipment, an intentional decision by the mom-daughter team.